Daily Archives: October 1, 2013

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For project 2 the location i have chosen is The Brooklyn Bridge.Brooklyn bridge is about 15 mins away from our college City Tech. This Bridge was opened on May 24, 1883. This Bridge I feel connects it all. It has a really Nice view too and a very long and interesting history.

“There are Eight Million naked cities in this naked city” said by Colson Whitehead in his work”City Limits”. This quote means that everybody that lives in New York has their own version of New York. They have seen it in a way different than ours and still remember it that way. That’s why i feel that Brooklyn bridge connects it all.

The other quote i choose is “You start Building your private New York the time first time you lay your eyes on it” by Colson White head in City Limits. This means that the first time you see New York, at that moment you start to build your version of new York. The first time i saw Brooklyn bridge i was was excited and saw it as a connecting bridge for many things.

Trip to the BHS

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On Monday September 30, the class went on a tour featuring City Tech, The Federal building, post office, Columbus Park, Brooklyn Theater, and finally the Brooklyn Historical Society. Prof. Rosen and Prof. Davis explained each landmark as we passed by. Prof. Rosen explained one of the worst tragedies ever to happen in Brooklyn and that was the fire at the Brooklyn Theater which happened on December 5, 1876. About 300 individuals lost their lives due to the lack of exits and cramped stairwells. This quickly resulted into a reform on the architecture around safety hazards.

Prof. Rosen and Davis then led us to Columbus Park, there we saw the statue of Henry Ward Beecher, who was known for the his speeches on the abolition of slavery. The statue did not express its meaning clearly as it showed Henry Beecher standing at the top of the slaves while the slaves were praising him. We then traveled to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade where we saw the Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island Ferry, and the Statue of Liberty. Our last stop which was the Brooklyn History Society which was a building that was built out of a red block called Terracotta, only a few buildings in Brooklyn were made of Terracotta. On the outside was a showing of 7 faces, Beethoven, Michelangelo, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, and two faces implying the Indians and the Norse. Inside of the Brooklyn History Society was a library which seemed to me looked like a place for books with only few quantity. The library was had technical specs that would protect the books from light and had a rule that if you were taking a picture, flash was not allowed.

At the end of the day I can safely say that I enjoyed the tour Prof. Rosen and Davis took us on was very interesting because I never would have guessed such places were so close to my college campus at City Tech.

BHS Summary

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On monday our class went to the Brooklyn Historical Society. We took a walk around the area of City Tech and then ended up in the Brooklyn Historical Society. I really enjoyed the walk because i am not familiar with the area. We first stopped by a post office which was once the Brooklyn Theater but was destroyed in a horrible fire that killed many people in 1876. We then went to Columbus Park where we saw the statue of Henry Ward Beecher who was a well known pastor and abolitionist who freed a slave named Pinky. Across the park we saw the Borough Hall building which was once the Brooklyn City Hall. Afterwards we walked to a location where we saw a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge and city, which was my favorite part. At last we went to the Brooklyn Historical Society and learned the history of the building. We also heard more about the story of Pinky who was a slave. This trip was a good experience for me since i got to learn more about the area and history.

Brooklyn Historical Society

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On Monday September 30, my class and I went on a trip around the area near City Tech. We walked around Brooklyn Heights, Columbus Park, and monuments. We even stopped by the boardwalk area where you can see across the river, The Statue of Liberty,New York City huge buildings, Governors Island, Staten Island Ferry, the nice flowing water, and so many other beautiful scenarios.After all that looking around we finally headed to where we had to go to The Brooklyn Historical Society. Over their we saw beautiful skulptures inside and outside the building. We even went inside the library. The library was so ancient looking. Like the lights were dimmed and the room itself was cold because of the books and the way they were placed. Over all I had a great day. I hope we have more upcoming trips like this.

Location Choice

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The Landmark I chose was the Brooklyn Bridge. It is a 10-15 min walk from City Tech. It is such a magnificent sight that it catches my eye instantly as I passed it every time I travel from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back. It was the longest bridge of it’s time when it was first opened on May 24, 1883. You can see the Staten Island Terminal, The Statue of Liberty, and the development of the new piers when you are on the bridge itself.

“You start building your own New York the time you lay your eyes on the city itself” was once said by the author of The Colossus of New York: “City Limits”. This quote means that you start to develop your own way of how you interpret the city of New York the moment you see something in the city that catches your eye, or the city itself. This quote relates to my reason of choosing the Brooklyn Bridge as the main idea of my project because not only does the bridge allow people to cross over to other boroughs of New York, it allows people to sight see almost everything between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

“The New York City you live in is not my New York City” is another quote also once said by Colson Whitehead which also relates to another reason that why I chose the Brooklyn Bridge for my project. It relates because I see the Brooklyn Bridge as a gateway to the other parts of New York, without it the city would not function how it does with it. As some people might not share that vision with me because they live elsewhere.

Project 2 Choice

Project 2 Choice

BHS Walk

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Today was the best day in college so far. Instead of my speech class and english class, My professors took us on a walking trip to Brooklyn Historical Society. We walked there and in the way we made 2 stops. The first stop was at the Columbus park a block up from city tech. The park is pretty big and includes the borough hall and many famous statues of the people that have made any impact. One of the statue we looked at was of Henry Ward Beecher. He is known for fighting for the freedom for the slaves and the one slave that stands out is Pinky. Beecher brought her freedom when she was being sold by her owner. The next stop we made was at the Plymouth Church. The church is where Lincoln came before he was selected as a president. Than we walked around the Brooklyn bridge. It was great to see all the construction going on, the Brooklyn bridge, the city and the Statue Of Liberty. Than we went to BHS. It has got 6 heads sculpture of famous from the history such as Shakespeare Beethoven and Christopher Columbus. inside also included the head of Pinky. That was added their 2 yrs ago by a local painter. Inside was really nice and the structure was really nice as well. We went to their library and saw a lot of interesting things and many old books were there too. Than we saw their new made classroom for college students. We talked about the policies and rules of the BHS.

Project #2

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Brooklyn Borough Hall

 

Brooklyn Borough Hall

For project #2 I chose Brooklyn Borough Hall for my location. It is located in front of Columbus Park which is right behind City Tech. By walking up Johnson St and making a left onto Adams St the building and park will both come into view. This building was originally the City Hall of the City of Brooklyn in 1848, before it merged with the City of New York in 1898. I decided to choose this building because it is one of the few historic buildings around the area.The building was completed in 1848 which i could tell by the greek revival architectural style. It does not fit in with the many modern ones surrounding it. Also, the building went from being “City Hall” to now “Borough hall”. This was an important building for Brooklyn city government which has now been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

I can relate to the quote from “City Limits” by Colson Whiteman from The Colossus of New York ” You start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it.” By walking past this building everyday it has become part of my own New York.

“Never listen to what people tell you about the old New York, because if you didn’t witness it, it is not part of your New York and might as well be Jersey.” Whiteman is saying that these buildings, restaurants and shops that surround you are part of your New York because you witnessed them, anything that was there before is not. This Borough hall building is part of my New York now, not the old Brooklyn City Hall building it was considered to be.

Walk to BHS

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On Monday we had a walk to the Brooklyn Historical Society. It was fascinating because it was my first time walking around in Brooklyn. As we walked we came to a post office which was back in time a Brooklyn Theater which burned down killing about 300 people. I never knew about it and it was sad knowing that people couldn’t make it out and burned. We also came to the Columbus Park and saw a statue of Henry Ward Beecher who was an abolitionists for the end of slavery. There was another statue of him at the Plymouth Church which was a few blocks away. We then came up to Brooklyn Heights from where we got a beautiful view of Manhattan and The Brooklyn Bridge. I also saw The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Our last stop was the Brooklyn Historical Society. It was made up of a red brick which is called terracotta. Along with that the building had five faces sculpted in it. As we went in we saw another face sculpture of Pinky who was a slave set free by Henry Ward Beecher. The stairs were made of wood and were kinda creepy. The library had everything made of wood like tables, chairs, pillars etc.

Location Choice

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The location I chose is the Brooklyn Bridge. Its just a few blocks away from City Tech. Its very beautiful and taking a walk on the bridge would be a dream come true. I always heard how Brooklyn Bridge is really a place to go and see and when I found out my college is next to it I was really excited. It was opened for use on May 24, 1883 and is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. That’s what I find fascinating about it. The view of the East River and The Statue of Liberty also makes it want to go there.

“You start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it”. I chose this quote because even though I was born here there are many places in New York that I have not seen yet and many places are still a dream come true. Brooklyn Bridge was one of it and when I saw it made me happy and to think how beautiful New York is.

“Maybe we become New Yorkers the day we realize that New York will go on without us”. I chose this quote because when we come to New York it takes time getting around and knowing it well. As time passes by many things change. The day you see that even without you New York will go on is the day you are a New Yorker because you know how the city is changing day by day.

Brooklyn Historical Society

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On Monday the class went on a walk from City Tech to the Federal building and post office which was across the street. It was at a time the Brooklyn Theater until it burned down in December 5, 1876. 287 to 300 people lost there lives that evening, following the phrase the show must go now. Other then ignoring an major threat to their welling being many on the 4th and 3rd tiers of the Theater were unable to get out due to the lack of exits and cramped stairwells. This led to a reform in the fire code of the city and remapping of potential fire starting building.

Then in Columbus we look at the statue of preacher Henry Ward Beecher, who was for the abolishment of slavery. However from his statue it would not be clear that he was so,due to his position above those who he was trying to free. A similar statue can be found at Plymouth Church several blocks away. From there we moved to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade that has an amazing view of Manhattan and the river. from there we could see Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges along with the new parks under construction below.

The last stop was the Brooklyn Historical Society which was made out of terracotta which is a red material somewhere between stone and brick. The outside had five faces, sculpted into it: and they are of Michelangelo, Beethoven, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, Columbus, and Benjamin Franklin. The entrance itself has a Norseman and Native American.  And inside on the staircase there was sculpt of Pinky, who was a slave that Henry Ward Beecher helped set free. We then went to the library, which had a very high ceiling and also has a gallery which is used as an archive. As soon as I saw wooden pillars, the tall book shelves, the contemporary look like oil base lighting, I immediately thought of the library of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series.

At the end of the day I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of walking in a part of Brooklyn  that  I never been in directly or passing by.